So You Want to Grow Your SaaS Product Line (A Few Product Management Portfolio Notes). Consider: -Where to grow -What should be your product strategy (Ansoff Matrix) -How to assess a product portfolio direction -How to discern if there is an opportunity -What are your product success metrics -How to make some tough product portfolio trade-off decisions

1. So You Want to Grow Your SaaS Product Line
(A Few Product Management / Product Strategy Notes)
John Gibbon
@johngibbon
In/johngibbon

2. Where to Grow?
Customer Size
Products
Services
Channel
Industries
Geographies

3. Product Strategy: Ansoff Matrix
Current Products
Future Products
Current
Markets
Market
Penetration
Product
Development
Future
Markets
Market
Development
Suicide
Leap

4. Assessing a Product Portfolio Direction
• Problem?
– Opportunity
• Where should we go?
• Solution
– Unique offering, breakthrough?
– Why you? Competition?
• Business Model
– How make money?
– What money need?
– Team? (Build? Market? Sell?)
• Why will we be successful there?
• How do we get there?

5. Is There an Opportunity?
• Customer Pain?
– Sufficient Pain to Buy?
– Top Problem of Economic Buyer?
• Big Enough Market?
– Market Growing? Changing?
Total Market > Total Addressable Market > Your Share

6. Product Success Metrics
• Revenue
• Market Share
• Competitive Differentiation
• New Users
• Increased Usage
• Increased NPS

7. .. But it’s Rarely a Green Field
You’ll Have to Make Some Tough Decisions

8. Market Growth Rate
Boston Consulting Group Growth Share Matrix
20%18%16%14%12%10%8%6%4%2%-
0%
Stars
5
4
Invest
Question marks
3
??
?2
Accelerate a Few
Harvest
Divest Most
Dogs
Cash cows
1
8
7
6
Liquidate
10x 4x 2x 1.5x 1x
.5x .4x .3x .2x .1x
Relative Market Share

9. Product Portfolio Trade-offs
• New Product vs. Mature Product
• New Market vs. Existing Market
• Short Term vs. Long Term Revenue
• Usage vs. Revenue
• Client A vs. Client B
• Research vs. Development
• High Risk vs. Low Risk
Strategic
Balance
Trade
Offs